Work feeding track for t-shaped parts

ABSTRACT

The track is located adjacent to a parts deliverying device so formed as to cause the parts not properly oriented and supported to fall therefrom. The track has two rails spaced apart for the reception of the stem of the parts while the enlarged ends or heads rest on the top thereof. The track slopes sufficiently to have the parts slide downwardly therealong and has a bend therein in the sloping plane thereof to cause those parts not properly supported to fall therefrom when passing thereover. A dip or deflection may be placed in the outside rail at the bend to further assist in the falling of the improperly supported part from the track.

United States Patent [151 3,696,904

Campbell 1 Oct. 10, 1972 [54] WORK FEEDING TRACK F OR T- Primary Examiner-Richard E. Aegerter' SHAPED PARTS Assistant Examinerl'l. S. Lane 72 Inventor: Milford A. Qampbell, 1722s Chandler McArthur, Detroit, MlCl'l. 48240 [57] ABSTRACT [22] filed: 1970 The track is located adjacent to a parts deliverying [211 App]. No.: 74,659 device so formed as to cause the parts not properly oriented and supported to fall therefrom. The track has two rails spaced apart for the reception of the (5|. ..l93/43 1/ Stem of the pans while the enlarged ends or heads rest on the top thereof. The track slopes sufficiently to [58] Fleld of search""'l93/43 ii have the parts slide downwardly therealong and has a bend therein in the sloping plane thereof to cause those parts not properly supported to fall therefrom [56] References Cited when passing thereover. A dip or deflection may be UNITED STATES PATENTS placed in the outside rail at the bend to further assist in the falling of the improperly supported part from 1,952,777 3/1934 Raymond ..22l/160 X the track l,l45,774 7/1915 Kotkovsky ..22l/l6l 12 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures PATENTEDI B 10 '9 3.696, 904

INVENTOR.

WORK FEEDING TRACK FOR T-SIIAPED PARTS SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The invention pertains to a sloping track made of two spaced rails down which the workpieces to be delivered slide by gravity. The top end of the track is located adjacent to a feeding device which may be of any well known type such as the rotary barrel feeder, oscillating feeder, elevating feeder and the like. The particular type of feeder forms no part of the present invention. The parts to be oriented are constantly fed to the upper end of the track and a portion thereof will have the stem drop into the space between the rails with the heads resting thereon. Others of the delivered parts which are crosswise, inverted and otherwise improperly supported on the rails will fall from the track from either side thereof. To further assure ejection of the parts, the rails are bent in the sloping plane thereof at an angle which may be as great as 45". At this bend in the track, the unoriented parts being carried therealong will fall sidewardly and forwardly therefrom. In this manner, all of the parts not properly oriented will be discharged from the rail before or at the time they reach the bend. Preferably, ejection of the parts occurs within the area of the hopper or other collecting device from which the parts can again be delivered to the upper end of the track.

It is within the purview of the invention to form a dip or depression in the outer rail of the track at the bend to add further instability to the improperly oriented parts so that they will more readily fall from the rails. Such a dip will not interfere with the continuous movement of the properly supported workpieces in their advancement down the rails. One of the rails may be a wall against which a side face of the head of the part engages while the underface of the opposite sidevof the head is supported on the top of a spaced rail. The rail may have a bend therein following a bend in the wall, and also a dip for the reasons above mentioned.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a view in elevation of a delivering device for parts which are to be oriented on a track having a pair of spaced rails;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged broken plan view of the track illustrated in the device of FIG. 1, showing the angular shape of the rails thereof;

FIG. 3 is an edge view of a portion of the track illustrated in FIG. 2 with parts carried thereby;

FIG. 4 is a modified view of the structure illustrated in Fig. FIG. showing a dip at the bend in the outer rail thereof;

Fig. 5 is an'enlarged sectional view of the structure illustrated in Fig. 4, taken on the line 5-5 thereof showing a part at the dip thereof, and

FIG. 6 is a view of structure, similar to that illustrated in FIG. 5, showing a different type of track for the workpiece.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The track of the present invention is employed for delivering headed parts from which a stem extends and is here illustrated, by way of example, as a bolt 11. The track 12 is made up of two rails 13 and 14 which are spaced apart to provide an area 15 therebetween sufficiently wide to have the stem portion 16 of the bolt 11 readily fall therein. The upper ends 17 of the rails 13 and 14 are disposed adjacent to a side wall 18 of a workpiece delivering device 21 having slanting elevator lifts 19. The lifts 19 are carried upwardly by a pair of chains 22 which are driven continuously to have the parts or bolts 11 raised and moved to the opening 23 in the wall 18. The bolts will advance through the opening 23 onto the upper ends 17 of the rails and be retained thereon for a short space by wings 24. A substantial portion of the bolts will have the stems 16 fall into the area 15 and will advance down the rails 13 and I4 and will carry other of the bolts along therewith beyond the wings 24 permitting a substantial number of the bolts not properly oriented "to fall from the rails. To assist in discharging the improperly oriented parts from the rails 13 and 14, the rails are bent at 25 in the sloping plane of the track to assist in ejecting the remaining improperly oriented'bolts from the rails. By the time the oriented bolts pass the bend 25 all of the improperly oriented bolts will have fallen from the track.

In FIG. 4, the track is shown with a deflected portion 26 in the outer rail 14 at the bend 25 to produce further instability to the remaining improperly oriented bolts which will be ejected from the rails at the time they pass the bend 25. The dip or deflected portion 26 in the rail 14 does not interfere with the passage of the properly oriented bolts thereover. The bolt will have the stem slightly tilted when moving around the bend 25, as illustrated in FIG. 5.

While both sides of the underface of the head of the bolt 11 are engaged by the top of the two rails 13 and 14, in FIG. 6, a further type of rail is illustrated. In this arrangement, a side face of a head 27 of the bolt ll abuts a wall 28 while the underside of the opposite portion of the head rests upon a rail 29. The rail 29 may be flat on the top, similar to the top of the rail 14, or may be sloped at 31 to provide a line engagement therewith. It is to be understood that any type of rail known to be suitable could successfully be used for ejecting workpieces when bent in the manner pointed out above.

While the conveyor type lift is herein illustrated for delivering the bolts to the upper end 17 of the track, this is shown merely by way of example as any type of delivery device known to be suitable can be employed for delivering the bolts thereto.

I claim:

1. In a track for feeding a workpiece having a head and a depending stem,

a pair of spaced rails for supporting the workpiece for motion along the rails,

the rails having a bend in which a first of the pair of rails has a greater radius than the other of said pair, and a downward dip,

the rails being disposed to receive the workpiece in an oriented position in which the head is supported on the rails and the stem is disposed between the rails, and

the rails having a downward slope for the workpiece to move therealong by gravity such that it falls from the rails upon engaging the dip in the bend unless disposed in said oriented position.

2. In a workpiece feeding track as recited in claim I wherein said bend occurs substantially in the plane of I the rails.

3. In a workpiece feeding track as recited in claim 2, wherein one end of the track is located adjacent to a workpiece delivery device.

4. In a workpiece feeding track as recited in claim 1, wherein one of the rails is a wall which engages a face at the side of the head of a workpiece, the other rail engaging the underside of the workpiece to provide a support therefor.

5. In a workpiece feeding track as recited in claim 4, wherein said rail has a sloping face at the top to provide a line engagement with the underside of the head adjacent to the stern thereof.

6. ln apparatus for feeding a workpiece having a head and a depending stem,

a pair of elongated, spaced, substantially parallel rails disposed to receive the workpiece for motion along the rails in either an oriented position in which the head is engaged with the rails and the stem is disposed between the rails, or in a second position in which the workpiece is engaged with the rails,

the rails having a bend in which a first of the pair has a greater radius than the other of the pair,

whereby a workpiece received on the rails in said oriented position moves along a path of motion corresponding to the bend in the rails,and a workpiece received on the rails in the second position moves along a path of motion in which it is disengaged from the rails adjacent said bend.

7. Apparatus as defined in claim 6, including a hopper disposed to receive a workpiece that is disengaged from the bend in the rails, and means for delivering a workpiece from the hopper to the pair of rails.

8. Apparatus as defined in claim 6, including a hopper disposed to receive a workpiece falling from the bend in the rails.

9. Apparatus as defined in claim 6, including a hopper and means for delivering a workpiece from the hopper to the pair of rails.

10. Apparatus as defined in claim 6, in which the rails are disposed such that a workpiece is slideably movable along the rails by gravity means.

11. Apparatus as defined in claim 6, in which one of the rails is disposed below the other rail at said bend.

12. Apparatus as defined in claim 6, in which one of the rails is engageable with the bottom of the head of a workpiece in said oriented position and the other rail is engageable with the side of the head of such a workpiece. 

1. In a track for feeding a workpiece having a head and a depending stem, a pair of spaced rails for supporting the workpiece for motion along the rails, the rails having a bend in which a first of the pair of rails has a greater radius than the other of said pair, and a downward dip, the rails being disposed to receive the workpiece in an oriented position in which the head is supported on the rails and the stem is disposed between the rails, and the rails having a downward slope for the workpiece to move therealong by gravity such that it falls from the rails upon engaging the dip in the bend unless disposed in said oriented position.
 2. In a workpiece feeding track as recited in claim 1 wherein said bend occurs substantially in the plane of the rails.
 3. In a workpiece feeding track as recited in claim 2, wherein one end of the track is located adjacent to a workpiece delivery device.
 4. In a workpiece feeding track as recited in claim 1, wherein one of the rails is a wall which engages a face at the side of the head of a workpiece, the other rail engaging the underside of the workpiece to provide a support therefor.
 5. In a workpiece feeding track as recited in claim 4, wherein said rail has a sloping face at the top to proviDe a line engagement with the underside of the head adjacent to the stem thereof.
 6. In apparatus for feeding a workpiece having a head and a depending stem, a pair of elongated, spaced, substantially parallel rails disposed to receive the workpiece for motion along the rails in either an oriented position in which the head is engaged with the rails and the stem is disposed between the rails, or in a second position in which the workpiece is engaged with the rails, the rails having a bend in which a first of the pair has a greater radius than the other of the pair, whereby a workpiece received on the rails in said oriented position moves along a path of motion corresponding to the bend in the rails, and a workpiece received on the rails in the second position moves along a path of motion in which it is disengaged from the rails adjacent said bend.
 7. Apparatus as defined in claim 6, including a hopper disposed to receive a workpiece that is disengaged from the bend in the rails, and means for delivering a workpiece from the hopper to the pair of rails.
 8. Apparatus as defined in claim 6, including a hopper disposed to receive a workpiece falling from the bend in the rails.
 9. Apparatus as defined in claim 6, including a hopper and means for delivering a workpiece from the hopper to the pair of rails.
 10. Apparatus as defined in claim 6, in which the rails are disposed such that a workpiece is slideably movable along the rails by gravity means.
 11. Apparatus as defined in claim 6, in which one of the rails is disposed below the other rail at said bend.
 12. Apparatus as defined in claim 6, in which one of the rails is engageable with the bottom of the head of a workpiece in said oriented position and the other rail is engageable with the side of the head of such a workpiece. 